New Jersey to pay $425K to man beaten by state troopers

New Jersey will pay $425,000 to a mentally disabled man who was beaten by state troopers who were searching for two burglary suspects in 2009.

James Bayliss' attorney tells The Star-Ledger of Newark that in return, the Hackettstown resident has agreed to drop his federal lawsuit against the troopers and the state, which admitted no wrongdoing.

An internal affairs review last year found the troopers used "unreasonable force." The Attorney General's Office said the beating violated use-of-force rules and the state took too long to investigate.

Officials determined more than a year earlier the troopers had done nothing wrong.

The reversal came after the newspaper posted a patrol car video that showed a trooper throwing Bayliss to the ground, kneeling on him and punching him in the face.